Blue Skinned Gods is an immersive and satisfying coming of age novel with an extraordinary central character: a young Indian boy named Kalki, who has blue skin after being bitten by a snake. His conniving father concocts a story that Kalki is the reincarnation of the blue-skinned Hindu god Vishnu, and installs his son as a healer in an ashram in Tamil Nadu to exploit the desperation of the poor, setting himself up for fame, wealth and power.
Young Kalki believes his own mythology, trying to help the people who come to him, but of course he isn’t a god and can’t maintain the illusion. When reality bites, disillusionment and betrayal set in. Kalki goes to America to build a new life, restore his faith in people and rebuild his sense of identity. Meanwhile, the idyllic ashram of his childhood becomes “a spiritual retreat for white foreigners wanting to find themselves. Newly divorced women and men in their midlife crises, young people taking gap years to travel the world and do yoga – they all wanted a backdrop of exotic colour for their social media posts.”
SJ Sindu’s language is simple and clear, her skills as a storyteller so subtle that only halfway through the novel did I notice her differing ways with emotional effect, the nostalgic depictions of Kalki’s memories of early boyhood contrasting with his empty, hustling life in New York. The author cleverly reveals the toxic sham of Kalki’s boyhood, yet without tainting the genuine romance, richness and simplicity of his daily life: “Tucked away at the very back of the ashram, the kitchen had a clay stove which I liked tending when Amma let me, stoking the heat inside by blowing through a long iron tube, the cold metallic tang pressing against my lips.”
Blue Skinned Gods is a rich, beautifully told and moving examination of the allure of superstition and legend, the pains of growing up and the pitfalls of lying to others and lying to yourself.
• Blue Skinned Gods by SJ Sindu is published by Legend Press (£14.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
